Appreciating technology's ability to make us appreciative

When my sisters and I were younger we would come home from school, run to the TV, turn on Arthur and watch PBS programs until dinnertime. Obviously when Mom would yell "Dinner!" in the middle of our favorite (of the moment) show we were extremely reluctant to leave our places on the couch to eat dinner at the kitchen table, as a family.

But, we would always be forced to turn off the TV and eat and visit before we were allowed to leave the table to go watch PBS or whatever else that we wanted to do.

Then, at some point there came a time when Mom was just too exhausted to argue with our persistent pleas that she allowed us that one meal in the living room.

After that it was the computer.

Our cousins had a Barbie horse-training program that we all loved and eventually one of us got it as a gift for some holiday. Our arguments over TV programming turned into arguments over who got to use the computer and for exactly how long.

For a long time, our time on the computer or watching TV was semi-regulated, partially just so we weren't all arguing about whose turn it was or whose picked the last three shows.

And then cell phones became popular, followed by laptops.

Now, it's fairly regular for families to have the TV on during mealtimes, be using a computer or some internet device throughout the day, and to always have their cell phones within an arm's reach.

People get mad when you don't answer their phone call or text them back right away because they assume that you always have your cell phone in hand and, therefore, have the time to take or answer their call or text simply because it's so convenient.

Don't get me wrong, I love having access to the technology that we do today! I can text my mom when I'm between classes and don't have quite enough time to call, I can ask my boyfriend quick questions when I'm in a hurry, I can call my grandma from absolutely anywhere I go so she doesn't have to worry, and I can access and utilize the internet from anywhere that I take my cell phone.

But, for my family, the ability of people to always be talking to one another through technology has made me appreciate more the days when I can go home and sit down to our kitchen table and eat dinner. Granted, part of the reason we eat dinner in the kitchen now is because we're all deathly afraid of getting a stain on the pristine cream carpet, but it does force us to focus on one another and have conversations.

I can't text my family a funny story that happened in a day and give it the same effect that I can when I can act out and laugh with them and fill in more details, in person, as I go.

 Although I appreciate the advances in society that technology has allowed us to make, what I appreciate most is technology's ability to show me how valuable the people around me really are and that time spent with them should be treasured and enjoyed, rather than spent texting the people who aren't there in that moment.